Troops sent to Greenland by Denmark were ordered to be combat ready in case the United States attacked the autonomous Danish territory, Danish public broadcaster DR has reported.
US President Donald Trump backed down on threats to seize Greenland by force after meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday, saying he had reached a “framework” of a deal on the Arctic island.
Prior to that, Mr Trump had not ruled out the use of force, insisting that the US needed Greenland for “national security”.
DR said a Danish military order last week said soldiers in Greenland should be equipped with live ammunition.
It also outlined a multi-phase operation that included the possibility of sending additional forces and assets later, if needed.
Civilian and military aircraft then began transporting soldiers and equipment to Greenland, according to DR.
The deployment was officially a part of the Danish-led military exercise Arctic Endurance, which Copenhagen has said will continue “throughout large parts of the coming year.”
It comes as the Danish Foreign Minister said negotiations with the US on Greenland aimed at increasing security in the Arctic are expected to start soon.
“We will get those meetings started fairly quickly. We will not communicate when those meetings are, because what is needed now is to take the drama out of this,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Copenhagen, adding that the talks would focus on “security, security, and security”.
His comments come after US President Donald Trump said he had secured total and permanent US access to Greenland in a deal with NATO.
Greenland’s prime minister said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.
News of a framework deal came as Mr Trump backed off tariff threats against Europe and ruled out taking Greenland by force on Wednesday, bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades.
Details of any agreement remain unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s US relations had “taken a big blow” in the past week, as EU leaders met for an emergency summit.
Watch: Trump touts ‘total access’ Greenland deal
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed Mr Trump’s comments but said he was still in the dark on many aspects. “I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,” he told reporters in the capital Nuuk.
“We are ready to discuss a lot of things and we are ready to negotiate a better partnership and so on. But sovereignty is a red line,” he said, when asked about reports that Mr Trump was seeking control of areas around US military bases in Greenland as part of a wider deal.
“We cannot cross the red lines. We have to respect our territorial integrity. We have to respect international law and sovereignty.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Trump said a new deal was being negotiated that would be “much more generous to the United States, so much more generous”.
He skirted questions on sovereignty, but said: “We have to have the ability to do exactly what we want to do.”
Mr Trump earlier told Fox Business Network the deal would essentially bring “total access” for the United States. “There’s no end, there’s no time limit.”
EU to ‘step up’ on Arctic security
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last night that the EU had underinvested in Arctic security but it was now time to “step up”.
Speaking at a press conference following an emergency EU Summit in Brussels, Ms von der Leyen said the summit had proposed to “double its financial support” for Greenland.
She added that Europe’s response to Mr Trump’s pursuit of Greenland this week had been “firm” and “non-escalatory”, adding that an increase in defense spending in the Arctic would be in co-operation with Canada, Norway, Iceland, Norway and the UK.
Asked about EU-US relationship, Ms Von der Leyen also said that the EU should look at becoming more “independent”.
A source familiar with the deal on Greenland said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Mr Trump had agreed in Davos on further talks between the US, Denmark and Greenland on updating a 1951 agreement that governs US military access and presence on the Arctic island.
The framework they discussed also calls for prohibiting Chinese and Russian investments in Greenland, the person said.
Another source familiar with the matter said what had been agreed was “a frame on which to build,” adding that “anything being reported on specific details is speculative.”
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Mr Rutte said in Davos it was now up to NATO’s senior commanders to work through the details of extra security requirements.
“I have no doubt we can do this quite fast. Certainly, I would hope for 2026, I hope even early in 2026,” he said.
Mr Trump’s ambition to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark has threatened to blow apart the alliance that has underpinned Western security since the end of World War Two and reignite a trade war with Europe.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said no negotiations had been held with NATO regarding the sovereignty of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
“It is still a difficult and serious situation, but progress has also been made in the sense that we have now got things where they need to be. Namely that we can discuss how we promote common security in the Arctic region,” she said.
Donald Trump’s flight stopped over in Shannon Airport in order to refuel
Speaking later ahead of the emergency summit of EU leaders, Ms Frederiksen called for a “permanent presence of NATO in the Arctic region, including around Greenland.”
Ms Kallas said: “Disagreements that allies have between them, like Europe and America, are just benefiting our adversaries who are looking and enjoying the view.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he hoped allies could put together a plan to boost Arctic security by a NATO summit in Ankara in July.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Mr Rutte that the UK stood ready to play its full part in ensuring security in the Arctic, a spokesperson said.
After meeting with Mr Rutte, Mr Trump said there could be a deal that satisfies his desire for a “Golden Dome” missile-defence system and access to critical minerals while blocking what he says are Russia and China’s ambitions in the Arctic.
Mr Rutte said minerals exploitation was not discussed in his meeting with Trump. Specific negotiations over the Arctic island would continue between the United States, Denmark and Greenland itself, he said.
The 1951 agreement established the US right to construct military bases in Greenland and move around freely in Greenlandic territory. This is still the case as long as Denmark and Greenland are informed of its actions. Washington has a base at Pituffik in northern Greenland.
